The sun was rising over the ruins of an old world, peeking over the white dunes, dipping everything in rich tones of orange and gold. Soon, it would be too bright to walk around comfortably without sunglasses but it was bearable like this. Beautiful, even. It was all the  more pretty because the world was still asleep. The people living at night had just gone to sleep while the people preferring sunlight, no matter how jarring, had not yet awoken. Jongdae was all alone, and enjoyed that. Solitude was something he rarely got around town. Not like he terribly minded being surrounded by people or the business they naturally brought, but he didn't mind having time to himself, either.

He jumped down the last stair behind their house, salt crunching under his feet. With nimble fingers, he loosened the ropes and opened their garage, squinting as the salt rained to the ground, glittering innocently. His glider stood neatly stacked in the corner, in all its battered and used glory, becoming one with the cluttered garage. It brought a small smile to his face. Carefully, he freed it without dropping anything and risking waking his family. They wouldn't be mad at him - probably not - but they deserved some sleep.

With practiced ease, he strapped all his necessities to the glider, on top of the small platform in the back; the sieve, clothes, water bottles and face gear, as well as a few other little tools all went into a box that he strapped on tightly.

It had been a bit windy last night. If it had been actually stormy, that would have been a disaster and Jongdae would probably not be able to leave like he was doing now. But it had only been slightly windy, so it was alright.
There was salt all over the streets, and Jongdae left foot prints as he left. Like everyone, he’d heard tales of snow, but salt was just different and didn't want to fit the fantastic descriptions. The footprints were very vague and by the time his parents left the house to sweep at the salt sitting in every nook and cranny, they would be long gone, just like Jongdae himself. Not like they’d miss him though. Jongdae left a lot, with his glider and tools and water, and sometimes, he’d bring back some nice things he found in the desert. Most of them could be sold but truth to be told, Jongdae would venture out even if that wasn’t the case.

At the edge of their town, he swung himself on the glider, staring into the sea of white for a second, before he turned to take out his gear. An old pair of painfully worn out goggles, a pair of gloves and a face mask - all to save him from the salt. There had been a time where people liked the taste of salt, but having salt in your eyes, nose, mouth or chafing against your skin all day wasn’t healthy. Inhaling too much of it could even be deadly. Salt soaked up water, too, causing dehydration, and Jongdae couldn’t blame the salt for it - he, too, would soak up all the water he could get.
He thought about salt a lot, as he glid over the dunes, over equal parts powdery and rocky surfaces, zooming towards the place he had left at last time. A lot of people detested the thick layer of salt that covered everything, that suffocated life, as they said. Jongdae thought a bit differently. After all, the salt had been there for much longer than they had, contently living in the sea. It hadn’t asked for the water to evaporate and to leave it behind to settle on the ground like something abandoned. It didn’t have a conscience, sure, but Jongdae still couldn’t bring himself to hate something just for existing. The salt may crave water, but so did they. And with the sun glaring down at them, they were forced to live in harmony now, so there really was no point in hating it. Around him, the white sand flashed by, glittering harmlessly, unaware of its deadliness. Jongdae took a deep breath, as deep as he could through the mask.

The world was so, so vast. He could just keep driving, on and on, and he’d just be met with days and days and days of salt.

Sometimes, he wanted to see how far he could go. His biggest dream would be to see the world beyond the ocean, where the sands were red, and where actual plants were growing, nothing like the algae he knew. It wasn’t too likely, but he hadn’t given up on that dream just yet. Maybe one day, he would get the chance. Until then, he’d continue to hunt for treasures.

He didn't need to look down at his compass just yet - this terrain was all too familiar. A little to the West and he'd be at the old shipwreck he found a long time ago. By now, he'd carried away everything of remote worth, leaving just a carcass of wood and metal. Sparse resources, but they might make a difference one day, so Jongdae let them be for now. It wasn't wise to mindlessly consume everything given - a rule ingrained in all of their heads, burnt in by the past.

Jongdae gently turned the steering wheel just a little, turning away from the past and towards unknown territory. Exploration was what he liked best, and he'd been looking forward to this trip. He had stocked up on fuel and a bit of food to enable a long trip, and it was hard to quell his own excitement. Too much excitement left room for disappointment, of which was enough to go around in the sea of salt. Jongdae's posture was secure, both feet firmly rooted to the board of his glider but inside, he was giddy and his mind alert, eyes searching the horizon.

There was nothing but dunes with occasional rock-like formations, the surface of a white so unblemished it looked pure even by this place's standards. Jongdae zoomed over the dunes, just lightly hovering over the salt and leaving behind a cloud of shimmering dust.

People loved the Southern regions, close to their village, where the rocks were colored, vaguely tinted in a shade similar to a peach (a fruit so rare and expensive that Jongdae had never tasted one for himself); but Jongdae could also appreciate pure, white salt with no impurities sprinkled among it. And he might have never seen grounds as flawless as the ones he was currently flying over. Pure, pure white, from the rocks to the powdery ground. Jongdae was considering a quick break when the sun stood high on the sky - to seek refugee from the unforgiving heat, to drink some water, but also to scoop up some of the salt to further inspect it. The thought was immediately wiped away when he crossed over a particularly huge dune and was faced with a coomb. Instinctively, Jongdae stepped on the brakes to slow down (a little too fast for his liking, to be honest).
Down and ahead lay a valley mostly consisting of rocks and hard, dried ground. There were dark specs that looked like holes. Carefully, Jongdae flew down, inspecting the ground. Flying over such a rocky landscape with his glider was a pain, and the ground looked stable enough, so Jongdae slid off his glider and took his time to test the ground, until he was confident it would hold him. With his tools all strapped to his belt and swung around his shoulder, Jongdae toed into the rocky valley, to seek shelter in the shadow of a huge boulder. The heat wasn't as unforgiving between all these rocks and their merciful shadows. During his little break, Jongdae scanned the area from his little vantage point. The things he'd spotted had indeed been holes. This area looked porose and cavernous in a way Jongdae had never seen it before. It screamed for him to explore, but also to tread carefully. He couldn't see anything but salt in his near vicinity, meaning there were likely no treasures to be found. Why was he still so excited about this?

Jongdae could only lightly shake his head at himself. His big sister would scold him so much for his useless adventuring spirit, but he couldn't help it. This landscape was fascinating, and after gulping down the rest of his water (with more bottles resting in the glider's box), he ventured out to explore the area. He climbed over rocks, looked down into fragile-looking caverns, and admired the crystallized walls he found in some. His most fascinating find, however, was water. Some of the holes were filled with seawater, liquidly gleaming in the sunlight. Jongdae leaned over one of these puddles that must run incredibly deep, flowing through a complex system of underground tunnels. Finding remains of the ocean was rare enough, and while there was hardly a breeze to ripple the surface, the water seemed oddly alive to Jongdae.

He was so captivated by the shimmering surface and the way it distorted his mirror image that he didn't feel the intense gaze resting on him.
 

---

 

He did feel it during his next trip though. It was a lingering feeling Jongdae couldn't put his finger on. The area remained intriguing and gorgeous, but it also felt oddly empty. This was ridiculous, of course - there was close to no life in any part of the desert, some very small and sturdy insects aside. Still, as Jongdae wandered around the porose grounds, he kept looking around as if he was expecting a particular find. Maybe he was simply being disappointed at the lack of treasures and discoveries he'd made so far.

Jongdae wasn't one to give up easily, though, and during what must have been his fifth trip, he finally made a discovery worthy of being entered into his personal little log book.

At this point, he'd had a good enough sense of direction in the valley, and was exploring the last, unknown terrain to the East of it, when he found it during his break. He had been lying in the salt, enjoying the silence, when a tiny light caught his attention from the corner of his vision. Something had sparkled in the salt.
Jongdae rolled over to his side (there would be salt everywhere, he could already hear his parents complain), and when more and more sparkling dots appeared, he sat up in one swift move. It was hard to define what he was seeing at first, so Jongdae retrieved the sieve from his belt and scooped up some salt. Whatever this was, it didn't look like dirt. Jongdae rubbed his sleeve over the goggles, but his sight remained annoyingly yellow-ish. He tugged off one of his gloves to check for any wind. The air felt close to stagnant. Jongdae used his bare hand to pull up the goggles, blinking against the harsh light.

A splash reached Jongdae's ears, and he whipped around before he knew it, paranoid than ever. He expected to see the rippling surface of one of the puddles, caused by a chunk of salt falling. He did not expect to see a head sticking out of the water. With a curse, Jongdae first stumbled back, a sharp pain shooting through his hand where he had literally put it into the sieve. The light was being too harsh, the heat too crass, he'd fallen asleep, he was imagining things. Jongdae's mind was a mess, wth all the jumpstarted assumptions tumbling all over each other. They didn't change the fact that there was a head sticking out of the water.

A human. Someone- there was someone in the water.

His instincts kicked back in and Jongdae half jumped, half crawled towards the mop of fiery red hair.

"- are you okay?!" he asked, ripping the face mask off and, without preamble, he pressed it over the other's head instead, already fumbling with the clasps as wet, bony fingers twitched towards his own hands in an attempt to stop him..

"It's okay, I got a second one with me," Jongdae assured him, already tasting the salt on his tongue. The boy - those were clearly the hands of a boy - only struggled more, trying to draw away from Jongdae, which resulted in his savior loosing his balance and almost tumbling into the water. Jongdae was too distracted to react in time, but the boy stopped struggling immediately and all but pushed against Jongdae, who gracelessly fell on his .

"I don't need this," a muffled voice said through the flimsy fabric, and it took Jongdae a whole second to truly register it was the stranger's voice. It deep, way too deep for his soft features. Not to mention that his words didn't make any sense.

"Take it back, please," the voice added, and Jongdae watched the strange, strange boy fiddle with the clasps of his mask as if he had never worn one in his entire life. His fingers just glid over the fabric in a useless way, tugging in weird spots and it made Jongdae feel like he was looking at a dog fighting a muzzle. Nothing made sense right now, but Jongdae couldn't stand the sight and slid forwards again to help him. The other's hands retreated instantly and the stranger froze under Jongdae's touch. With practiced ease, Jongdae opened the face mask and carefully pulled it off again, his wary gaze not leaving the other for a second.

"You should really wear this though," he began, and the boy shook his head as soon as he was free, looking more than ever like a dog. "You'll inhale too much salt."

The boy just blinked to himself, shoulders moving up and down as his breathing calmed. He was obviously relieved at his regained freedom, but when he looked up at Jongdae, the redhead seemed to remember his earlier fear and backed away from him. It would have been comical if Jongdae wasn't so worried right now.

"Wait! I'm sorry," he began, one palm lifted while the other was loosely holding the mask in front of his own mouth. "I won't do that again, it was rude. Sorry."

The boy just looked at him with wide eyes, looking completely shell-shocked. They were of a warm brown, complimenting the few, gentle freckles sprinkled around his nose and cheeks. The longer Jongdae looked at him, the more he was struck by how nice he looked. Clean skin, soft, but defined features with plush-looking lips, a straight nose, and ears that peeked out of his shockingly red mop of short, messy curls. Come to think of it, Jongdae had never seen hair this red - it was different from the light, natural shade or the weak dyes he had seen on people. It was hard to focus on anything other than his eyes though.

"I'm sorry," Jongdae repeated, because he didn't know what else to say. For a moment he considered the stranger to not speak his language, but he had spoken to him earlier.

"I've never seen anyone around here," Jongdae began, feeling all around awkward and torn between shaking this guy's shoulders, demanding answers, or backing further away, uncomfortable under the attentive gaze.

"You- come here for swimming?" Jongdae asked, trying to downplay the slightest stammer in his voice.

The other blinked, seemingly trying to shake off the shock himself. Then he nodded clumsily. There shouldn't be a way to be clumsy about a movement this simple but somehow, the other pulled it off.

"Yes."

'Why are you so nervous when I should be the one freaking out here?' Jongdae complained to himself, and it sounded a little hysterical, to be honest. He had to calm down.

"Okay, and how can you do all this without a mask? Don't you realize how much salt water you'll inhale?"

"I don't mind..." the boy trailed off, his gaze fluttering between Jongdae, the water surface and he was actually shirtless, Jongdae hadn't realized that before.

"The salt is not good for your skin either, and what are you doing here?"

Granted, these questions were not meant to appear together like this, but Jongdae was just overwhelmed. That didn't improve when the fidgety boy bit his lip.

"I- I'm sorry. I live here."

"You live here," Jongdae repeated blankly. The redhead nodded.

Jongdae shook his head.

"No, I don't understand. How do you live here? Do you got resources around here? Food, water?"

The boy's fingers broke through the water's surface, swishing through it. Jongdae was sure he saw something else move in the water.

"This is enough for me. I'm. Not..."

Jongdae looked at him expectantly, and if he wasn't so flabbergasted right now, he might have urged him to get to the point already.

When there was no continuation and he was stared at again, with parted lips and nothing short of fear in the boy's eyes, Jongdae took a deep breath. Willed himself to visibly calm down, to relax his posture.

"You're not what?" he then asked, his voice purposefully gentle and careful.

His brain used the second of silence to come up with a dozen ridiculous scenarios of a reply, and yet he wasn't prepared for the shimmery thing breaking through the surface next.

The boy clearly attempted to mirror Jongdae's cautiousness in terms of both voice and gaze.

"I'm a nymph," he said almost apologetically.

It was Jongdae's time to freeze in his tracks, to not make a sudden, silly move. Silly in retrospect, mind you, because in that very moment, any loud and shocked sound from screaming to whimpering would have been a justified reaction. But no, Jongdae simply stared at the tip of the greenish tail that was nervously twitching under his attention, flicking back and forth. The scales looked like an assortment of the finest jewels, and the longer he stared, the more colors could he find in them. Jongdae knew right away that this was no silly joke on his expense - the tail was unlike anything he had seen before, and obviously alive.

At an utter loss for words, he could only slightly shake his head.

"What in the world..." he muttered to himself, and the boy - the merman, the nymph - squirmed under his gaze, hiding his tail under the water again.

"Please don't try to hurt me," he said quietly, a shy request that ripped Jongdae out of his stupor.

"What? No," he began firmly, underlining his words with reassuring gestures, "no, I won't, I wasn't even thinking of hurting you - this is just really confusing."

The boy tilted his head and shot him a probing look, as if trying to see the truth in Jongdae's words, to read it off his face.

Without thinking, Jongdae extended his hand over the water.

"I'm Jongdae."

Now the boy's head tilted to the other side, from wariness to simple confusion as he stared at Jongdae's hand. He replied nonetheless, uselessly holding out his hand in an attempt at mirroring Jongdae's gesture.

"I'm Chanyeol."
 

---

His friends and family don't notice anything to be off about Jongdae the following weeks. It only served as proof for how dedicated Jongdae was to treasure hunting - him spending every free hour out in the desert wasn't anything new.

Jongdae did feel a little guilty for not bringing back anything of high value in a while, but spending time with Chanyeol was too exciting to pass up.

"I'm leaving!" he called over his shoulder one morning, and as usual, he got nothing but a simple, but loving "Stay safe!" in return. Jongdae stopped in the door, looking at the basket of berries on kitchen table. It had been a present by a neighbor, and berries weren't too exotic, so he caved in and took a few, gently putting them into a pouch. The only type of edible plant they could grow were alkali grasses, so they fully depended on the airplanes stopping by every week to provide them with food (trading it for the few goods and services their tiny village had to offer). Wherever the merchants lived, they had an abundance of berries around this time of the year, and it wasn't the first time they had given them out like this. Chanyeol had repeatedly assured him that he didn't need food, but maybe he'd like to try these, anyway, Jongdae mused as he hopped on his glider and set off into the desert.

He hadn't told anyone about Chanyeol. At first, it had simply been too absurd of a story, and people would have likely told him the salt had gotten to his head. As the days passed by however, and Jongdae got used to the existence of Chanyeol, he found himself strangely unwilling to share this secret of his, to share Chanyeol. He told himself that it was all out of concern for the nymph's safety. Was there such a thing as telling yourself white lies?

Chanyeol was nowhere to be seen when Jongdae arrived, but he wasn't worried at all. Chanyeol was always there; he'd told the truth when he explained to Jongdae that he lived in this valley, was born there. A questioning call into one of the holes in the ground was usually enough for Chanyeol to pop up suspiciously fast - as if he'd been waiting for him. To be fair, he probably had been waiting, and Jongdae would be the last one to let it get to his head. After all, there was not much for Chanyeol to do all day. He couldn't exactly go anywhere, and he was also the only one of his kind.

"Jongdae!"

He should know better, and yet Jongdae flinched at the sudden call coming from behind him.

"Stop sneaking up on me like that, my fragile human heart isn't made for this!" Jongdae complained halfheartedly, flicking salt water at Chanyeol, who couldn't keep the sheepish grimace up for long enough to fool anyone. Jongdae had never put any thought into mythical creatures before, but he was pretty sure Chanyeol would have stood out to him regardless of whether he was a nymph or not. There was just something about him, something that made Jongdae think of the way the salt glittered in the morning sun.

"How was your day?" Chanyeol inquired immediately, leaning his head onto his arms, looking all cozy and comfortable. He really liked hearing Jongdae talk about his day - probably because anything human was interesting to him. Jongdae was itching to take off his goggles but his eyes were still pretty sensitive from the last time he got too much salt in them. Well, Chanyeol was gorgeous to look at either way, he shouldn't complain over his slightly smudged vision.

"Good! I actually brought you something, lemme see..." Jongdae trailed off, unwilling to save the surprise any longer. He felt Chanyeol's curious gaze burn holes into him as he took out the little pouch and carefully emptied its contents onto his palm.

"What is it? Is it a gemstone? It looks really pretty."

"Not a stone," Jongdae chuckled, and then offered the berries. "It's a fruit. It's edible - wanna try?"

Chanyeol looked almost scandalized.

"Isn't it too pretty to just eat it? You humans really don't hold back, do you?"

With a huff, Jongdae made it a point to pop a berry into his mouth and act out an exaggerated expression of bliss. Chanyeol bit his lip and then leaned in closer, to stare at the berries with a mix of skepticism and wonder. It was ridiculously easy to bait him. The nymph reached out and poked one of the fruits, quickly withdrawing his finger again.

"It's so soft! You sure you can eat it? What if it's rotten?"

"You probably shouldn't eat a lot of anything, to be honest, but if tons of salt can't bring you down, neither will a fresh berry," Jongdae shrugged, and Chanyeol gave in to curiosity, because of course he did. The face he made upon eating a small berry was so comical that Jongdae couldn't help laughing out loud. It was a funny mixture between shock, a wrinkled nose and general confusion.

"Tastes bad?" Jongdae asked teasingly, and Chanyeol his lips.

"I don't know. It's really strange. I can't decide if I like it or not."

He took a second one after a short period of contemplation, and Jongdae hummed knowingly.

"Ah, because it's sweet? You're probably not used to sweet stuff... humans quite like it, you know?"

"Yeah, and humans also like to wrap themselves up in layers and layers of animal hair, so I can't say you're being very convincing right now," Chanyeol quipped, but before Jongdae could take the bait (because he was just as easy as Chanyeol and the both knew it), the nymph changed topics already.

"You know, there's a way down into the caverns that you could take."

At Jongdae's surprised look, he kept elaborating in the manner of someone who had rehearsed the entire conversation ahead of time, "I was just thinking, because you're sensitive to the sun and you always gotta wear all that protective stuff, and down there is much less wind and barely any powdered salt, so-"

"Sure!" Jongdae cut him off, a little too eagerly maybe. "I've really wanted to climb down there before, but it would have been kinda suicidal to do so on my own. Lead the way? If you're not uncomfortable, I mean. Not trying to invade your personal space or anything."

Chanyeol shook his head and smiled.

"Oh no. Please invade my personal space."

Jongdae choked a little on nothing.

"I- don't think this is what you meant to say."

Chanyeol slightly tilted his head again, and he wore that infuriatingly adorable, questioning look Jongdae had become used to seeing on him.

"What do you mean? I'm pretty sure this is exactly what I meant to say."

"Never mind. Just please lead the way," Jongdae helplessly prompted and almost got a heart attack when Chanyeol pulled himself out of the water and he was faced with more bare skin than he had seen in a long, long time.

He got his second almost-heart attack when Chanyeol's tail gradually turned to legs upon drying - a process which Chanyeol was evidently embarrassed about, so Jongdae didn't stare. Chanyeol was not so embarrassed about the fact that he wasn't wearing any clothes though, and Jongdae had never been so happy about the spare jacket and scarves he usually brought along with him.
 

---

After that, the underground caves became their new meeting point.

"Do you ever wanna leave this place?"

Jongdae turned his head to the side, away from the hole in the ceiling, away from the blue sky and towards Chanyeol, who was lying next to him.

"I mean, you've always lived in these caves, right? Did you never wonder what it's like, elsewhere?"

Chanyeol didn't have to think long about his answer.

"Of course," he admitted openly, turning to his side so he could give his full attention to Jongdae - something he did a lot and which was equal parts embarrassing and flattering.

"I know nothing but the tales my mother told me when I was young. I heard there are places called forests, where there's so many plants you can't see the sky anymore."

"Yes," Jongdae cut him off, and excitement had him roll to his side as well, regardless of the uncomfortable ground, "did you know that before the ocean's dried up, there were forests as big as whole countries? Can you imagine that?"

"No. I don't know how big a country is to you," Chanyeol replied, a hint of playfulness lacing his voice, "but I feel like I couldn't picture it either way. I never saw a plant other than algae and moss."

His tone grew a little more somber after that, his expression soft and a little nostalgic.

"My mother also told me the sea used to be a wonderland of colorful plants and stones, with countless beings living together. Everything was big and complex and like a forest that has grown together over time. She told me that there used to be many nymphs as well, living together in the depths of the sea."

Jongdae felt a pang of sympathetic pain. His own living conditions were undoubtedly sad as well - if one were to compare them to the sparkling tales of the past - but at least he wasn't alone. He wasn't too sure if he'd be able to take being alone for most of his life.

"It's no good to yearn for something that lies in the past," Jongdae said softly, because like every teen, he'd been through that phase, and found an answer for himself. "You can't thrive on ideas and memories of other people. Some people call this world broken, but we're here, aren't we? So I think it's okay to explore this world that we have. See how far we can go, you know?"

Chanyeol was just listening, not even trying to intervene as he was allowed to speak his mind to someone who wouldn't immediately reign him in. Jongdae's voice was still even, his demeanor calm, but reassured - the signs of an opinion that learnt to grow with restraints, but that grew, nonetheless.

"If we only chase after the past, trying to glue together what they call shambles to recreate a thing that's been broken for a long time already... I think the pieces wouldn't even align anymore. The wind and the salt would have chafed at them, and we're better off trying to create something new with them."

Chanyeol smiled, and it was slightly sad. It was enough to break the spell.

"I, uhm. I'm sorry, I got carried away. I didn't mean to be insensitive," Jongdae hurried to say, breaking eye contact. "I just thought that you deserve to be happy and live your own life, and maybe there are still nymphs left, somewhere in the world. Obviously, you guys are good at hiding, so maybe-"

"Hey."

A cool, dry hand on his cheek had Jongdae look up again and into the naturally imploring, brown eyes of Chanyeol.

"It's all good. You're right in what you said, and I do believe the same. My, you're really warm," he then cut himself off, easily distracted as ever. Jongdae felt himself heat up even more at the observation.

"That's normal," he defended himself, and it was mostly true. Except for the part where he felt even warmer and terribly tingly because a beautiful creature had just reached out to touch him. With a surprised hum on his lips, Chanyeol kept alternating between touching his cheek with his fingers and the back of his hand.

"You sure it's not because of all the clothing? Maybe you're getting sick."

"It is not because of all the clothing - if any, they prevent me from getting sick," Jongdae was quick to say, but he didn't make a move to shake Chanyeol off. He wasn't even trying to lie to himself, either. His heart was beating like crazy, but he quite liked it.

"Maybe I can prevent you from getting sick instead, if you give me the chance," Chanyeol proposed, and there was most certainly a suggestive edge to it that had Jongdae gape. A nymph that lived all on his own had no right to be such a smooth talker.

"I'll. Stick with my jacket for now, thank you," Jongdae replied, feeling a deep sense of regret at this bland reply. He was usually good at this type of conversation (at flirting, his brain whispered), he was good at giving witty replies - he'd simply been caught off guard.

"For now," Chanyeol echoed, but didn't dig further. Instead, he turned to lie on his back again, with a sigh that radiated both resignation and contentedness, which was an oddly calming mix of feelings.

"I do understand your way of thinking though," he began, looking up into the blue sky while his hand sought Jongdae's. "You asked whether I've ever thought of leaving this place, and of course I did. I know that I can't; it's physically impossible for me. I'm okay with this, though."

Jongdae squeezed his fingers, felt Chanyeol's sharp nails that were all-too similar to his scales.

"I don't mind being here, seeing this very scenery every day. I simply appreciate it while it lasts. Maybe to tomorrow, today will be a pretty memory, too."

"What do you mean?"

Chanyeol smiled to himself, and he really didn't look very sad.

"You humans probably don't have all that much time to pay attention to it, but this place is changing every day. The sun is still shining and the water is still leaving, albeit slowly. Pathways that I swam through as a child are now dried up. Maybe one day, I won't be able to comfortably swim to the surface like I do today. Sometimes I feel like my meager, little mind just isn't big enough to appreciate the things I have. I can still try though."

Jongdae didn't know what to say to that, but his heart felt considerably heavier as he looked up at the sky in silence; together with a lonely nymph who spend his days sitting in a puddle of the former ocean, waiting for it to dry up at last.
 

---

It was certainly ironic that Jongdae came down with a fever not too long after. It was the worst cold he could remember having. The days passed by in a painful blur and left Jongdae feeling drained and like his entire body was bruised. The doctor insisted that it stemmed from the cold, wet places Jongdae had recently been to. She might have been right. Either way, no matter how high the fever, not even Jongdae could delude himself into even attempting to leave the house, much less to go and see Chanyeol. During those days, he felt incredibly lonely, and sometimes he even wondered whether the nymph had worked magic on him, had somehow bonded them together. During his more lucid moments, he just felt the heavy border separating them, and allowed his woozy mind to toss around ideas he had been having for a long time already.

By the time he was back to normal health, those ideas had blossomed, and he couldn't wait to meet Chanyeol. He snuck himself out and on the glider - his family would probably worry for him, but Jongdae simply enjoyed the fresh breeze tugging at his hair and clothes, after such a long time of being bedridden. When he arrived at the valley, though, Chanyeol was nowhere in sight. He didn't immediately react to Jongdae's calls, either, which felt like a bucket of ice water being doused over him. Did Chanyeol leave? He couldn't exactly leave, though, seeing as he needed salt water like humans needed clean water - did something happen to him?

The imagery of dried up rocks and tiny, colorful stones looking like fragments of Chanyeol's beautiful, beautiful scales almost made Jongdae cry on the spot. He told himself to remain calm and hurriedly skidded down into the cave through the path he knew by heart at this point.

There, in the very entrance, he found Chanyeol, his tail peacefully swimming in the water while his upper body rested in the salt. For a terrifying moment, Jongdae thought he might have died, but when he fell into the powdered salt next to him, the nymph's eyes blinked open.

"Jongdae?"

His deep voice was a little rough, a little sleepy, and his skin felt warmer than usual under Jongdae's touch. Or maybe he was imagining things.

"Are you alright? Were you just sleeping?" Jongdae immediately inquired, and when Chanyeol realized that yes, Jongdae was around and this was not a dream, he clasped Jongdae's hands, touched his leg, just seemed overall eager to touch.

"Are you alright? You haven't been around in so long, I didn't know if you were bored of me or whether something had happened."

"I was just sick, I'm alright again. What about you though?" Jongdae insisted, because Chanyeol wasn't usually like this. His face seemed paler than usual, his skin rather dry and the scales scattered around his elbows and upper arms looked slightly dull. He seemed... weak.

"Hmhm," he only hummed in reply, nuzzling closer even though Jongdae's natural body heat must be uncomfortable.

"I wanted to go out and search for you, but I had to turn around after a day or so. Your home is too far away, after all."

"You did what?" Jongdae demanded, feeling his heart drop at the image of Chanyeol wandering the desert with his long, clumsy chicken legs, completely exposed to the sun with no water whatsoever.

"I just wanted to try. I turned around in time," Chanyeol mumbled, but Jongdae wouldn't have any of it, tugging at the other so he could examine him more closely in the dim light reaching the cave.

"You look burnt," he observed, and Chanyeol had the guts to sleepily pout at him.

"I wore all the clothes you left here, it's just a few specks here and there. They'll scale and heal, it's no big deal."

The mere thought of wandering the desert on his own with no resources was terrifying to Jongdae, who decided that no, this was a big deal.

"You idiot, do you want the sun to take you away? This is not a distance you can just walk."

Chanyeol only hummed again, and with a frustrated sigh, Jongdae lay down next to him, shrugging off his shoes and socks, but not bothering with his pants. The cold saltwater drenched the fabric in no time and this might not be the smartest move after having just recovered from a cold, but Jongdae had no room for such menial worries.

"What if something had happened?" Jongdae asked, one palm wandering up and down the other's sides, feeling the clammy skin and rough patches where scales had indeed started to shield the sensitive skin from further irritation.

"You'd find my scales," Chanyeol sleepily offered, and there was something so bittersweet about the way he said it.

"Scales don't just disintegrate. If you find heaps of my scales, you'll know."

"Know what?" Jongdae asked stubbornly, refusing to even think about it. Chanyeol just smiled.

"It'll be really obvious. When my mother left me, her scales were washed ashore not too long after. There were a lot of them, and in time, the sea will grind them down to powder. But that takes a long time. You'll know, okay?"

"Why are you telling me this right now?" Jongdae whispered, and Chanyeol looked rueful.

"It's a little selfish, you might be right. I just want you to be certain. I don't want you to waste a lot of time searching for something that's not there anymore. You wanted to see how far you can go, right? I wouldn't want to hold you back."

Jongdae wanted to yell at him, to pinch and complain and maybe even cry a little, but he did nothing of that. Without words, he just pulled the nymph into a both searing hot and freezing cold embrace that none of them complained about. Time was ticking, and maybe tomorrow would be the day Jongdae would spend thinking back to this moment. He was pretty certain that he'd regret it if he didn't embrace the nymph right now.

 

Blossoming ideas might sound like a nice idiom, but blossoms don't sate your hunger and might be pretty, but overall useless. Jongdae knew about that and meeting Chanyeol had given him the final push to nourish his ideas instead of simply entertaining them.

He didn't neglect visiting the nymph and he kept bringing valuables home from the desert, but he wouldn't speak of his plans, neither to Chanyeol, nor to his family. Though the latter probably had a vague idea of what Jongdae was doing in their garage, tinkering around until late into the night. He was also starting to drag in odd things he found in the desert and finally had to move his project which was becoming too big to be held in their garage. His family wasn't too happy about it, but they came to terms with it over time. It certainly took weeks of trial and error, of failures and setbacks and tiny steps towards his goal until one night, Jongdae allowed himself to fall into the powdered salt, looking up at the night sky with a silent laugh. He may be an idiot, and all this might be in vain, but he did create something new out of the shambles the old world had left behind. All that was left now was for him to present the results.
 

---

The sun was burning high on the cloudless sky when Jongdae zoomed over the dunes on his beloved glider. His head felt a little too full, stuffed with concerns, worries, countless 'what if's. But it was too late to call it off now, and he'd see it through.

He parked his glider and walked the last bit. He didn't have to search for Chanyeol this time, only had to approach the fiery red mop of hair that was sticking out of a gleaming puddle somewhere. He always reminded Jongdae of a sunbathing, little lizard. Or maybe a cat sitting on the window sill and gazing into the world outside.

"Jongdae! You're early!"

He was smiling so brightly that his sleepy, weak demeanour from before was nothing but a rapidly paling memory.

"Early for what? Am I disrupting your alone time with the sun? I can leave," Jongdae joked, but Chanyeol was already grabbing his ankle.

"Don't you dare!"

Jongdae used his free foot to flick water at the nymph, just to watch him scrunch up his nose in protest.

"Is this the surprise you mentioned? You being a big tease today?"

"That would be a bad surprise," Jongdae laughed, tugging his foot free.

"It really would be."

"I couldn't rival you, anyway," Jongdae said, if only to stall time. Of course Chanyeol wouldn't have it - if he were to describe him in as few words as possible, curious would clearly come out on top.

"Then what is it? More funny food? More chocolate?"

"Hah, we didn't get any more chocolate, that was a rare occasion..." Jongdae trailed off, and then shook his head. "Uh, anyway, no, nothing like that. Uhm. I can show you, but you'd have to walk. Would that be okay?"

Chanyeol seemed intrigued at his suspicious behavior and swung himself out of the water without hesitation. It only took a few minutes for his tail to dry under the blazing sun and then transform into legs. Jongdae had brought him a light robe, to keep him from burning his skin again (and to keep Jongdae himself from staring, because it didn't do his heart any good), and when they took a corner and Jongdae's glider came in sight, Chanyeol actually gasped.

"Woah. What is this? Did you build this?" he asked, looking at Jongdae as he excitedly approached Jongdae's glider with its new trailer. Of course he tumbled along the way, because Chanyeol only barely had control over his legs when calm - when excited, he just became a mess, and it was infectious, in the best way possible. Jongdae had already been nervous though, so Chanyeol's enthusiasm only added to the turmoil inside of him.

"It's a trailer," he stated, quite uselessly to be honest.

"And your glider can pull it? I didn't know that little bike was so strong!"

"Of course she can!" Jongdae was quick to claim with crossed arms. "She's the best."

"Only because you take such great care of her," Chanyeol replied warmly, and the way he patted his bike, all respectfully and yet fondly, would be enough to capture Jongdae's heart for good, to be honest.

"So what's it for?" he then asked, and Jongdae stared at the trailer that was taller than him, this big and bulky box that was probably still lacking.

"You," he blurted out.

He had prepared himself for the worst but of course, Chanyeol would drag it out some more.

"Me? What should I do with it?" he asked, genuinely clueless, and Jongdae felt like dying of embarrassment.

"Nothing, just. We talked about traveling a lot, and you are kinda stuck here in the desert, so I thought you might be able to travel like this. With me."

"In that box?" Chanyeol only asked, looking at the trailer in a new light, and Jongdae was shifting his weight from one foot to the other now.

"There's salt water inside," he explained, watching Chanyeol touch the silver surface, examining the little stepping aids, "it looks a little shabby, but that's how aluminum looks. It keeps the inside cool. There's still a lot I can improve, like I was thinking of windows and stuff, but yeah-"

"And you want to carry me inside of that?" Chanyeol asked, and Jongdae felt just so embarrassed.

"I mean. We can also just use it to find you a better place to stay, some deeper waters. It's stupid, right?" he asked, his own smile feeling taut and strange.

"You're stupid," Chanyeol quipped, and Jongdae blinked.

"What?"

"This is amazing! Quick, show me how to open it!"

"What?"

Chanyeol laughed and tugged Jongdae closer to the glider.

"Show me how to open it," he repeated, more slowly and maybe he was even more overwhelmed than Jongdae currently was. Jongdae did, feeling a little dumbfounded at the reaction, and Chanyeol made a gleeful sound when the hatch opened and revealed sparkling water. Before Jongdae knew it, he had the light robe in his face and Chanyeol had slid inside the water, tiny droplets flying everywhere.

"This is so cool, I'm swimming above the ground!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"It's pretty cramped, so..." Jongdae began, but Chanyeol cut him off by flicking water at him.

"Silence! Shush! And try driving! Please?"

He dragged out the question, turning it into a whine too excited to resist. Jongdae pulled down the goggles and swung himself on his glider. When he started the engine, Chanyeol cheered loudly. Jongdae flew a few easy loops, all above safe and even ground, nothing special, really, but Chanyeol loved it.

"Do you really wanna take me with you?" he yelled over the wind.

"If you want to!" Jongdae yelled back, flying another elegant loop (as elegant as one could with the clunky trailer attached to the glider - Jongdae had practiced this a lot), before slowing down again, simply to save fuel. When he pulled up his goggles and turned around, he was met with Chanyeol's blinding smile, as he was resting his head on his arms, looking down at him.

"Do you think we can find a forest?"

Jongdae offered him a lopsided grin.

"It'll be pretty tough, you know? We'll need to make money, to afford supplies and stuff."

"Do you?" Chanyeol only prodded, and Jongdae gave up.

"I hope we will. I really want to."

"Me too."

They both shared a silly, carefree smile, and then Chanyeol heaved himself out of the trailer, sitting on its edge to let his tail dry in the sun.

"I never talked much about traveling because I'm selfish, you know?" he admitted, and Jongdae hummed in question, captivated by the way the scales shimmered in the sun. Some things never stopped being astonishing.

"Because seeing the world is such a great, grand dream that I would always wish to come true for you, because you deserve it - but it would also mean that you'd leave me, and... I don't know. It was silly of me."

"Well, jokes on you, cause I'm silly enough to build this entire thing," Jongdae replied easily, and wordlessly handed Chanyeol his robe, watched how the impatient nymph used it to scrub his tail dry. This was actually happening, and the realization was almost too much for his small mind to handle. Now he was beginning to understand what Chanyeol had meant by lamenting his mind feeling too small for certain feelings.

"So," Chanyeol began when his legs were finally formed and he could awkwardly climb down to land in the soft salt, "you said we need supplies... do you think this would be a good start?"

He grabbed a handful of salt, allowing it to rinse through the gaps between his fingers. Jongdae tilted his head - a habit he'd been picking up from Chanyeol.

"I think people are kinda stocked up on salt at this point."

"Not the salt," Chanyeol insisted, and leaned against the back of the glider, where Jongdae's supply box used to sit - now that he had fixed it to the trailer, maybe Chanyeol could sit on the back of his glider one day?

"The stones. You think they might be worth something?"

Jongdae looked down at the fine, white sand. It had colorful specks in it, the very same type that had caught Jongdae's attention back then, before Chanyeol had. He had forgotten all about them, but now that he thought about them-

"We should sell the scales?!" he asked, scandalized. Chanyeol only laughed.

"I said stones, didn't I? Those aren't scales, don't worry! I don't know much about them either, to be honest, but my mother said they're remnants of our ancestors, who loved to collect beautiful stones. They might be worthless, but it's worth a try, right?"

Jongdae stared at the tiny, tiny chips of blue and red, of green and gold and couldn't imagine them being worthless.

"It is worth a try," he echoed. He could hear the smile in Chanyeol's voice even as his eyes were still trained on the salt.

"You know what else is worth a try?"

"Hmm?"

Without a warning, Jongdae was pulled into a kiss. It was hot and cold, exhilarating and fascinating and simply perfect.

"Definitely worth the try," Jongdae breathed against his lips before closing the gap again, so they could further explore, revel and discover each other before they'd set out to see the rest of the world, leaving behind a cloud of salt sparkling in the air.